Cruz: Don't be intimidated by 'Godfather' Emanuel

1/29/13 1:00 PM EST

Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz has a message for banks and gun manufacturers who may be unhappy with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel: Come to the Lone Star State.

Emanuel has appealed to banks to stop lending to gun manufactures Smith & Wesson and Sturm, Ruger & Co. because the companies oppose limitations on gun rights. In a wide-ranging letter Tuesday, Cruz said those businesses shouldn’t be intimidated.

Cruz wrote that he understands the banks may be concerned “that there are risks to refusing to comply with the demands of a politician who has earned the nickname, ‘The Godfather.’”

In a jab at Emanuel, Cruz argued Texas is more business-friendly.

“In Texas, we have a more modest view of government,” Cruz wrote. “We do not accept the notion that government officials should behave as bullies, trying to harass or pressure private companies into enlisting in a political lobbying campaign.”

In a separate portion, Cruz addressed the gun manufacturers, thanking them for their “commitment to the Second Amendment” and lamenting “ambitious politicians” who would “impose financial harm or even drive your companies out of business in order to further their own political agendas.”

Cruz, noting that Emanuel was President Barack Obama’s first chief of staff, said his actions “call into doubt the claims of President Obama and Washington Democrats that they do not seek to strip Americans of our Second Amendment rights.”

The appeal to banks was not indicative of a “modest, common-sense gun control,” Cruz wrote. “Instead, they are a manifestation of an unabashed agenda to deprive law-abiding citizens of our right to keep and bear arms.”

Emanuel’s office responded Tuesday afternoon to the letter.

“No sportsman needs a military assault weapon, and no criminal needs access to a gun,” Sarah Hamilton, Emanuel’s communication director, said in a statement. “The senator is putting the safety of our nation’s children and police officers at risk, for the profit of a few gun manufacturers who stand in the way of reform. Mayor Emanuel reached out to a number of financial institutions and asked them to join in the effort to push gun manufacturers to support commonsense gun reforms. I don’t know why the Senator from Texas would want to mess with that.”